The Seahorse

The Seahorse is Saint Austell's public swimming pool, and it's exactly what you'd expect from a proper leisure centre - chlorine, lane swimmers, and the occasional shriek from the shallow end. There's an indoor pool for year-round use and an outdoor pool in summer months, plus a learner pool if you've got young kids who need the confidence-building shallows. It's straightforward stuff: swim lengths, splash about, maybe grab a coffee afterwards. Not glamorous, but functional.

For families staying at Tregarton Park or Treveague Campsite nearby, this is genuinely useful on a rainy day or when you need an hour of structured activity. School holiday times get rammed, so go mid-morning if you can. Adults doing proper training will find the lane swimming decent enough; paddlers and learners get their own space, which stops it feeling chaotic.

It's free to look around the facility, though you'll pay admission to swim - exact prices and opening hours are best confirmed directly as these change seasonally. Allow a couple of hours if you're making an afternoon of it, though even thirty minutes keeps restless kids occupied. In summer, the outdoor pool is the main draw, and on a sunny day it's pleasant enough, though calling Saint Austell's weather reliably warm would be optimistic.

This works well as part of a rainy-day plan when exploring the wider area. It won't be the highlight of your holiday, but staying at Veryan or one of the closer campsites means it's a quick drive, and sometimes that matters more than finding something fancy.